Counting calories CAN be pointless

"You can't compete with what you eat"

love this

Congrats on being like, totally like, active and all.

I think for those who are naturally able to regulate their eating habits, and are able to intuitively decide how much to eat and recognise hunger as opposed to boredom etc. calorie counting isn't really necessary (although it can still be helpful if looking to build muscle or focus on macros and general health). However as this is a calorie counting site that seems to be predominantly aimed at weight loss, I'm guessing that most of us here (unless you're athletic and here for macro counting, muscle building purposes etc.) are the unlucky ones who have through whatever varied reasons formed a different relationship with food that means that we aren't always able to either respond or interpret to our bodies hunger signals or lack of - this is where calorie counting becomes so helpful to us trying to lose - it means that we can start to understand how much we should be giving our bodies, and when to stop.

As someone (a 19 year old for what it's worth) that has lost weight, only to stop counting calories and mistakenly believe that because I was now skinny, I'd automatically be able to naturally regulate my eating like those who had been skinny forever, and gain it all back, I think I'm probably going to need to count calories, or at the very least monitor them forever, to ensure I can make sure that firstly, I don't continue to overeat and yo-yo all over the scales, and secondly, that when I am ready to stop losing weight and focus solely on my fitness and muscle goals, I'll be able to maximise my results.

Personally I think that no matter how active I am, or fit I feel and look, I'm always going to want to eat like a fat person and calorie counting is the best way I can think of to moderate that. Obviously though this isn't the case for everyone and I'm sure there are MANY people that have successfully lost weight and maintained without counting a thing - in which case, you may want to give it up, although if I were as active as you - I'd still count to make sure that all the time I was putting into my workouts was really paying off - if I was putting that much effort in, I'd feel cheated if I didn't have the body to show for it!!

I honestly think it comes down to the individual. When you grow up in a household overeating/without healthy eating habits, you grow so accustomed to your habits/lifestyle that you start to flat out ignore your hunger cues. If you are one of those individuals (i used to be), you could easily consume 4-6 thousand calories, and not even realize it as being so many.

If you're somebody who is very aware of their hunger cues and whatnot, calorie counting would be pointless as long as you followed a intuitive plan of eating.

SO, it all comes down to the person, and their habits/environment/etc.

Definitely not pointless. I've lost over 50 pounds counting calories and I also work out 6-7 days a week and am pretty active.

Like others have said, you can't outrun a bad diet no matter how active you are.

What's easier to do, to cut out 300 calories from a meal or to burn 300 calories at the gym?

And that's the answer to your question basically although I understand what you're trying to say.

I don't know about a "bad diet" (whatever that is), but you most certainly *can* out train/run a "calorie surplus diet" such that it becomes a calorie deficit/neutral diet. A lot of people have been doing that for a very long time with excellent results.

"Bad" may be a poor choice of word but I think most people get the point. That's why I also gave an example of cutting calories out of diet is easier then exercising and burning the same amount of calories at the gym.

Going to the gym (in the long run) would be a more beneficial option here, assuming that you don't just go to the gym for cardio. If you're serious about weight loss, a combination of resistance training AND cardio would make a pretty nice difference in your calories expended, as more muscle mass means more calories being burned.

If somebody builds a bit of muscle, the calories those muscles burn on a rather consistent basis would be much more significant than the mere calories burned running (again, making an assumption that you aren't talking about running marathons).

Counting calories is not a requirement for anyone, feel free not to and those of us that log in our foods daily will not care.

No. for my last marathon I not only ran 6 miles a day but a 20 miler every other weekend and on the "off" weekends a 13-15 miler. Gained weight because I assumed I could eat whatever. I Learned my lesson. I'm active andtraining for another one and do not want to gain. So I count cals. But you do you. Let us know what the results are.

I love when people come to a calorie counting website to slam counting calories.

You are 19. You won't be saying it's useless 3-5 years from now.

Oh I don't know.
There are many people who don't ever count calories and live a long and healthy life.
My father has always been slim and has never counted calories and he is in his mid 70's.

I agree that for some people counting calories is pointless and unnecessary - those people who don't need to lose/gain/maintain weight and/or can lose/ gain/ maintain weight without counting.

A bit like for many people, taking their blood sugar levels is pointless - if you are not diabetic and your body regulates blood sugars without intervention then buying a blood sugar machine is pointless.

Doesn't make it pointless for everybody though.

And doesn't make sense to join a forum for diabetics and post that blood sugar machines are pointless.

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Counting calories was pointless until I got into my mid-twenties.

At 19, your personal experience and anecdotal observations may not supply you a fair representative sample.

But counting calories is not the only way. There are a thousand others.

exactly. when i was 19 i was exactly the same way, running an hour a day on top of pilates for 2 hours 6-7 days a week. i was privileged to have the time to obsess over those things instead of my calorie counts. now, 21 with a full time desk job, not so much. counting may be pointless when you have a youthful metabolism and all the time in the world to put into your fitness, but for others it's vital. i do think that people in their teens shouldn't be counting their calories unless they're at particular health risk. i'm sure if i hadn't been so busy flitting from one eating disorder to another every year of my teens i would have actually accomplished something.

Okay so this is my honest belief here. Counting calories should be used to guide people into a healthier lifestyle but it shouldn't be the ONLY way.

Like I run and workouts six, seven times a week. I typically run a good six or seven miles and do plenty of strength training. Anyone feel at time that counting calories is pointless, especially when you're as or almost as active as me?

You`re 19 years old and active. My suggestion is, print what you said out and laminate it for safe keeping. But also, record you weight and measurements along with it. Then measure weight and compare every 10 years. It will be lots of fun!

No because for me counting calories makes me cognizant of portions. There were some real eye openers when I first started counting calories.